Bonus Plan Shares The Wealth

INSIDE AUTO RACING

The Winston Million was one of the hardest bonuses to collect in motorsports. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco's new No Bull 5 plan, however, should make instant millionaires of several drivers.

Under the old bonus plan, a driver needed to win any three of stock-car racing's Big Four events - the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega, Ala., the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, N.C., or the Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C. - in the same year to win $1 million.

The series sponsor could give away as much as $5 million next year as part of NASCAR's 50th anniversary.

The No Bull 5 plan first calls for the flip-flopping of sponsorships at Talladega Superspeedway. The May race at the 2.66-mile speedway now will be called the Sears DieHard 500. The October race will change to the Winston 500.

Next, the top five drivers in one of the premier races now can win the $1 million bonus simply by winning the next designated race. Instead of the Big Four, Winston expanded the bonus plan to include the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

So based on the finish of last Sunday's race at Talladega, winner Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, John Andretti, Ken Schrader and Ernie Irvan - the top five - are eligible to win $1 million if they can win the Daytona 500 next February. The top five at Daytona then are eligible to win $1 million if they win the Coca-Cola 600, and so on.

Since the Winston Million plan was introduced in 1985, two drivers have collected the $1 million bounty - Bill Elliott in 1985 and Jeff Gordon this year.

If the No Bull 5 plan had been in effect, R.J. Reynolds would have paid out $29 million in bonuses over the same period. Gordon would have been the biggest winner with $5 million, followed by Elliott and Dale Earnhardt at $4 million, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Jarrett at $3 million and Geoff Bodine, Sterling Marlin, Phil Parsons, Davey Allison, Mark Martin, Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte, Tim Richmond, Harry Gant and Irvan with $1 million each.

''That sure gives a lot of guys an opportunity to win a million dollars,'' Terry Labonte said. ''I thought that was probably the neatest thing I've heard anybody do for a long time in racing. It's going to add a lot of excitement to some of the races next year.''

Earnhardt said he hopes to leave racing the same way basketball coach Dean Smith left his position at the University of North Carolina.

''That was pretty cool the way Dean Smith quit,'' he said. ''I think I'll just quit, if I quit. I've got a contract (with Richard Childress Racing) through the year 2000. I'll get paid. I'm not going to quit before then. If I sign another one, I won't quit before that one's over, either. It's pretty neat to get paid for what you enjoy doing.''

Several members of the St. Louis Cardinals are jumping into stock-car racing. Future Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith will join former car owner Harry Ranier on a deal called Wizard Motorsports next year in Winston Cup.

''We are attempting to put together a Winston Cup team,'' said Rodney Wortham, one of the team's co-owners. ''At this time, we aren't at liberty to say anything.''

Ranier twice has launched teams on the Winston Cup circuit. He had his most success with Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison in the mid-1970s, winning the Daytona 500 three times. He started the 1997 season with driver Greg Sacks, but the team went out of business after four months when its sponsor, Hardee's, was sold.

Also, driver Bobby Hillin has formed a group of other Cardinals players to start a Busch Series team. Pitcher Andy Benes, utility player Danny Sheaffer and third baseman Gary Gaetti are listed as partners.

SHORT TRACKS: Sacks, who lives in New Smyrna Beach, has been hired to finish the season aboard Felix Sabates' No. 40 Chevrolet. The season started with Indy-car driver Robby Gordon as the driver, but he was fired two weeks ago. Since then, he hasn't been able to find a ride in Indy-car, either. . . . NASCAR will flip-flop the October races at Rockingham, N.C., and Phoenix next year so the Phoenix stop won't conflict with the season-ending CART race at California Speedway. . . . General Motors tested its new Small Block 2 engine Monday at Talladega. The new engine, recently approved by NASCAR for the 1998 season, is supposed to help Chevrolet and Pontiac be more competitive against the horsepower generated by Ford engines. Terry Labonte was supposed to test the SB2 engine, but he left Talladega immediately after the race to attend the funeral of his wife's grandmother. Andy Hillenburg, the 1995 ARCA Series champion, tested the car in relief.